November 14, 2015

I don’t really know when my love for aviation began but I am sure it was very early in life. As a kid, I built tens of plastic airplane models. My biggest challenge was the “Spruce Goose”; eight engines, four per wing. I discovered that painting and decal “fixing” was my biggest and most time-consuming chore. I’ve sniffed enough Testors glue to classify as a junkie. I would then carefully display the models in my room either hanging from the ceiling, always in attack mode for the fighters, or positioned squarely on a shelf available for all to see.

Later on, I graduated to “U” controlled balsa wood models. I realize this takes most of you way back so I’ve included a JPEG of a “U” controlled plane. As you can see, the planes are tethered by two wires, each controlling the vertical climb/dive motion of the aircraft. The control is a hand-held plastic or wooden “U” device shown by the second JPEG.

As you can see, the wires are attached to the upper and lower “U”. The “pilot” will rock the controller to facilitate climb and descent motion.

We loved to dog fight these balsa wood planes. You do that by tying streamers to both wings, then have at it. Both pilots stand back to back, crank the engines and have at it. The first one to cut the streamer of the other is obviously the winner.

Then came remote-controlled model airplanes. This was the third phase in the development of flying models. By that time, I was attending my university so I missed out on this fun-filled activity. Too little time and too little money. After graduation, I was commissioned into the United States Air Force. You get the picture. I’m a real fan.

Several weeks ago, I attended the “Wings Over North Georgia” air show in Rome, Georgia. It was a miserable, rainy, cold, muddy day but we enjoyed every minute of it. The next slides will illustrate the day and the airplanes we saw. The “feature” event was an F-22 Raptor. This is one beautiful machine. Let’s take a look at several “heavier-than-air-aircraft” on display that day.

OSPREY

I told you it was wet. I had never seen an Osprey before and after seeing the cockpit, it’s the real deal. Let’s take a look.

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tilt-rotormilitary aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft.

The V-22 originated from the United States Department of Defense Joint-service Vertical take-off/landing Experimental (JVX) aircraft program started in 1981. The team of Bell Helicopter and Boeing Helicopters was awarded a development contract in 1983 for the tilt-rotor aircraft. The Bell Boeing team jointly produced the aircraft. The V-22 first flew in 1989, and began flight testing and design alterations; the complexity and difficulties of being the first tilt-rotor intended for military service in the world led to many years of development.

The United States Marine Corps began crew training for the Osprey in 2000, and fielded it in 2007; it supplemented and then replaced their Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knights. The Osprey’s other operator, the U.S. Air Force, fielded their version of the tilt-rotor in 2009. Since entering service with the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force, the Osprey has been deployed in transportation and medivac operations over Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Kuwait. A better look with the aircraft going from VTOL to level flight is given as follows:

OK, so I’m not the HULK, but this thing is huge. I’m the one in the yellow rain jacket and you can see how “petite” my buddy Todd and I are in comparison to this monster. The following JPEG is courtesy of the USAF and will show the internal size of the C-17.

I told you it was big.

F-22 Raptor

I don’t have any JPEGs of the Raptor I took personally. There was a four-hour delay due to weather and the Raptor made a low-level run to demonstrate maneuvering capabilities. The JPEGs below were obtained (again) from the USAF. I can tell you from witnessing the flight, it has impressive sharp-turn capabilities and deserves to be called state-of-the-art.

The aircraft was variously designated F-22 and F/A-22 prior to formally entering service in December 2005 as the F-22A. Despite a protracted development as well as operational issues, the USAF considers the F-22 a critical component of its tactical air power, and states that the aircraft is unmatched by any known or projected fighter. The Raptor’s combination of stealth, aerodynamic performance, and situational awareness gives the aircraft unprecedented air combat capabilities

The high cost of the aircraft, a lack of clear air-to-air missions due to delays in Russian and Chinese fighter programs, a ban on exports, and development of the more versatile and lower cost F-35 led to the end of F-22 production. A final procurement tally of 187 operational production aircraft was established in 2009 and the last F-22 was delivered to the USAF in 2012.

The Raptor cockpit is a digital marvel. Please note the “heads-up” display.

There were other aircraft on display including several that would qualify as “oldies-but-goodies”. The most impressive was the B-25 bomber. It was in pristine condition and flew to the air show from its “home” in Arizona. Unfortunately, it left the show before I had time to make a picture. We frequently had to duck for cover during several periods of driving rain. Good day—but wet day.